Provence- Arles

While staying here in Provence we have visited the small city called Arles. There is a strong Roman history here and this is where the famous artist Vincent Vangogh did much of his work. We went on a special tracktor train that took us arround the streets that were very hilly and cobbled, Some of the structues were very very old.

The next day we visited The pont du gard an ancient Roman structure for transporting water this was near Avignon and then we also visited Aix- en Provence (pronounced ex - on- Provence) where we did bungee jumping and ate amazing glace (ice creams) and went on an old fashioned merry go round we had so much fun.

All Images copyright Corrina Tough 2012

Provence 8 nights the highlights

We arrived in Provence on the 11th September and we leave on the 19th. The weather has been very hot 28-31 degrees every day. We are staying in a Gite which is a self contained cottage on a farm in the middle of an apple orchard and we have all we can eat apples, figs and grapes. There are two French children who live on the farm and we get to play with them when they are home from school. We have a big swimming pool here and it is really pretty. We have seen lots of things- the first couple of days we went to the nearby villages of St Remy de Provence and Eyglere which have very old buildings and cute shops and amazing markets with fruit and veges and ots of other cool stuff. The food is amazing- the tomatoes taste so good and the cheeses and sausages are so yummy. These pics are from the first few days.

                                                       The gite where we are staying

                                       The Alpilles mountains behind olive trees in a vineyard

More Provence pics to come- stay tuned for ancient Roman Aquiducts and Curtis and Ruby the bungee champions! xxCurtis and Ruby.                                                           

Next 4 days Giverny and Flavigny sur Ozerain

After we left Paris we drove to Giverny where Claude Monet a famous French artist lived. We went to his house and garden and it was very beautiful. We walked up very old cobbled streets and saw old houses and had a yummy lunch at a bistrot. We stayed in an ancient Mill house on a big property and we got to play table tennis and soccer and tennis. We had a delicious dinner cooked by a French chef. The next two days we stayed in an ancient village called Flavigny sur Ozerain where the film chocolat was made. Ruby and I (Curtis) made films with our cameras and we visited the old Abbey where they make special lollies out of anniseed and other natural ingredients. Made the same way the monks have made them for centuries. The house we stayed in was built in 1600's and was even burnt during the revolution! It had a creepy cellar that we played games in and we pretended to be vampires!.

Plane trip and 2 days in Paris

In the plane we played games and watched movies, ate yummy food. We had to stop in Vietnam Hochimin and Hannoi and then to Paris.

When we arrived in Paris it was early in the morning so we spent the day exploring The Jardin du Luxembourg, we sailed old fashioned boats on a lake in the garden (park) and saw very old buildings and statues.

On the second day we went to Jardin du Plantes a huge big park made up of gardens and museums. We went to the Menagerie (small zoo) and to the  musee of naturel histoire (museum of natural history) in a building from the 1800's. We saw dinsosaur bones and preserved animals and went into the childrens museum with hands on displays for us kids all about science and the environment. We had so much fun!

All images copyright Ruby Tough, Curtis Tough and Corrina Tough 2012